DAYS 27-29 INTERCOURSE AND PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

DAYS 27-29
We arrived in Intercourse, Pennsylvania: Amish-Mennonite country. We found Beacon Hill Campground, an adult campground, nice and quiet, with the occasional horse and buggy traveling up the road behind our campsite. They have some great antique shops in this area.

On Monday, we went into Philadelphia, visiting several points of interest. Again, we had a wonderful history lesson here.



Standing two feet away from the Liberty Bell, our nation’s symbol for liberty, was humbling.

We went into Christ Church, where many of our forefather attended church, and sat in the pew where George Washington sat. This was a great step back into time. Christ Church still holds services weekly. The baptismal pictured here is over 300 years old, and still used today.


At Independence Hall, being in the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed was even more humbling.



We went into the Federal Reserve Building where they had a self guided series of stations to learn more about the economics of our country. They gave us a bag of shredded money on our way out.
While Philadelphia is a huge industrial city, this little area has a lot of charm and makes you feel like you are standing on hallowed ground.

On Tuesday, we decided to take a horse and buggy tour of the Amish-Mennonite area. These two cultures have many similarities and some differences. The Amish are much stricter with their walk with God than the Mennonites. The Amish do not use any electricity, while the Mennonites are more liberal and some even own a car. The Amish ride in the gray buggies and the black buggies belong to the Mennonites.
There were eight couples in our buggy, and some children. The tour guide always addressed his statements and questions only to the men. Pretty interesting.
The schools are one-room, with students grades 1-8, taught by someone who has an 8th grade education. They are mainly for teaching the children English.
We visited a working Mennonite farm.

Hope you are enjoying our adventure with us. We would love to hear from you. Just click on the comments link and add your own. If you don’t have a Google ID, just send as Anonymous, but sign your name to the comment. Thanks.
Janet and Bob

DAYS 22-27 MARYLAND AND GETTYSBURG

DAYS 22-27
We spent 5 days in Westminster, Maryland with Barbie and Bryan (daughter and son-in-law). Here is their beautiful home and garden. We also enjoyed their pets: Bandit and Rascal are Shelties who can do some pretty amazing tricks. Their cats were a little friendlier toward us this year. We think it’s because we didn’t have Angel around to torment them.

We traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for a day. What a great history lesson. At the Welcome Center, we watched an IMAX film and toured the museum. In the museum, we heard the Gettysburg Address performed by Sam Waterson (Law and Order). If you know who he is, you know he sounds just like Abraham Lincoln would have sounded.

Then we did the tour around the battlefield on our own examining monuments and cannons. We were in awe of the massive numbers of soldiers who fought there over a three day period. Over 51,000 were dead, wounded or missing!

Bob and I went antiquing in Frederick, MD. We do enjoy that pastime.
We went to Barbie and Bryan’s friends’ house for the 4th of July.

DAY 22 WILLIAMSBURG, VA

WILLIAMSBURG, VA

This is the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia;
one of the first sights we encountered as we arrived in Virginia.

Williamsburg, VA
We found a little campground to park the RV, which gave us the freedom to drive into Williamsburg.
However, we only ended up driving to the Welcome Center.
From there, we took the bus to the different areas in Williamsburg.
Patrick Henry giving his "Give me Liberty, or give me Death" speech.

The Wigmaker
This was fun to watch. These kids had no idea what they were doing.
Brickmaker
The working man
The Capital Building

Martha Washington arrives
with fanfare

The Folk Museum
That is me standing in front of that gigantic magnolia tree!
Church podium donated by Thomas Jefferson.
Okay, Yuck. She is holding a huge beetle.

In front of the courthouse

The Magazine Inside the Magazine Another beautiful sky
There was quite a bit of walking here. We needed more than one day to really appreciate the history here, but we did get to meet Patrick Henry and Martha Washington. This was a fun and interesting stop on our historical journey. I like learning about history this way.